Sport360° view: Atletico have weathered the cruel summer storm

Andy West 13:05 29/07/2014
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  • Good replacements: Atletico Madrid have lost some key players but they have purchased worthy replacements.

    When their team overcame all the odds to secure a stunning La Liga title triumph in May, the scarcely believing celebrations of Atletico Madrid fans must have been somewhat disturbed by the nagging fear that Los Rojiblancos’ success was quite possibly destined to become nothing more than a glorious one-off.

    After such an incredible campaign of over-achievement, and with the club some €500million (Dh2.5bn) debt and committed to nearly €200m (Dh986.9m) for a new stadium, it was obvious Atletico were vulnerable to the vultures of European football’s wealthiest, and Diego Simeone’s title-winning squad was about to be ripped apart.

    Sure enough, leading scorer Diego Costa and left-back Filipe Luis were snapped up by Chelsea, who have also understandably reclaimed outstanding loanee goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

    Furthermore, David Villa has moved into semi-retirement with New York City, winger Adrian has joined Porto, Diego Ribas has headed to Fenerbahce, Jose Sosa has rejoined Metalist Kharkiv following the end of his loan spell and Cristian Rodriguez is poised to sign for Sunderland.

    The long list of departures mean that no less than eight of the players from Atletico’s title-winning team are no longer with the club.

    On closer inspection, though, the picture becomes significantly brighter. Although the loss of Courtois and Costa is a major blow, it was fully expected. Luis was also an integral part of Atletico’s success, but the remaining departees, to be brutally honest, are all players that the Vicente Calderon club will have been relatively happy to let go.

    None of them – aside from the ageing and declining Villa – were regular starters, and many Atletico fans will have been resigned to losing far more key players.

    The crucial central defensive partnership between Diego Godin and Miranda remains intact; right-back Juanfran and creative star Koke are also still with the club; so too is the mercurial Arda Turan, and captain Gabi.

    Although there’s plenty of time remaining before the transfer window shuts, as things stand Atletico can be more than satisfied with the identity of the players to have departed. And that becomes even more the case when you consider their new signings.

    In particular, forwards Mario Mandzukic and Antoine Griezmann should complement each other wonderfully – one offering power and hold-up play, the other providing pace and trickery – while Guilherme Siqueira was regarded as one of Spanish football’s best left-backs during his time with Granada and nearly joined Real Madrid this time last year.

    In goal, La Liga veteran Miguel Angel Moya from Getafe is a safe pair of hands and will provide good competition for Slovenian Jan Oblak, who is one of Europe’s best young goalkeepers.

    But perhaps the most positive news of all is the ongoing presence of inspirational manager Simeone.

    In a summer when Manchester United, Juventus and Monaco have all changed managers, it has come as a great relief to Atletico that Simeone was not tempted to leave.

    With him in charge, anything is possible…again.

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